Category: Stock Market News

Fitbit Inc. was cleared of accusations that it stole trade secrets from rival Jawbone Inc. on Tuesday. “No party has been shown to have misappropriated any trade secret,” U.S. International Trade Commission Judge Dee Lord said in her finding. If Fitbit had been found guilty, the ITC could have banned U.S. imports of its fitness trackers. The verdict is still subject to review by the commission, and a final decision is expected in December. “Jawbone’s allegations were utterly without merit and nothing more than a desperate attempt by Jawbone to disrupt Fitbit’s momentum to compensate for their own lack of success in the market,” Fitbit co-founder and CEO James Park said in a statement. Jawbone hasn’t given up yet, saying in a statement it will ask for a full review of the ruling and “is confident it will prevail.” Jawbone is also pursuing a separate trade-secrets case against Fitbit in California state court.

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Oil futures declined in electronic trading Tuesday after the American Petroleum Institute reported a 4.46 million-barrel climb in U.S. crude supplies for the week ended August 19, according to sources. Analysts polled by S&P Global Platts forecast a much smaller weekly rise of 200,000 barrels for crude inventories. The closely watched Energy Information Administration report will be released Wednesday. October crude was at $47.68 a barrel in electronic trading, down from the contract’s settlement of $48.10 on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

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Clovis Oncology Inc. shares ticked higher after hours Tuesday following a big jump in the regular session as the Food and Drug Administration accepted a marketing application for the company’s ovarian cancer treatment and granted it a priority review process. Clovis shares advanced 1% to $23.25 after hours, following a 23% rally in the regular session. The FDA is expected to make a decision on the application by Feb. 23, 2017. Studies of Clovis’s treatment rucaparib showed 54% of patients with recurring ovarian cancer responded to the treatment.

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Shares of Best Buy Co. Inc. had their best day in more than 15 years to close a 1 1/2-year high on Tuesday in the wake of better-than-expected fiscal second-quarter results, with same-store sales showing surprise growth for the first time in a year. The stock rocketed $6.43, or 20%, to $39.23, the highest closing price March 25, 2015. That’s the biggest one-day price gain since the consumer electronics retailer went public in April 1985, and the biggest percentage gain since it soared 23% on Jan. 3, 2001. Credit Suisse analyst Seth Sigman said the strong quarterly results provides better visibility into the second half of the year, and left him upbeat about product drivers outside of mobile. But he said the “biggest surprise” was the 0.8% increase in same-store sales–the FactSet consensus was for a decline of 0.4%–“as expectations were much lower following the weaker industry data points.” The stock has run up 29% year to date, while the SPDR S&P Retail ETF has gained 6.8% and the S&P 500 has advanced 7%.

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Lannett Co. shares rallied in the extended session Tuesday after the generic-drug maker’s fourth-quarter results and outlook topped Wall Street estimates. Lannett shares rallied 14% to $36.90 after hours. The company reported adjusted fiscal fourth-quarter earnings of 73 cents a share on revenue of $168.9 million. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had estimated earnings of 60 cents a share on revenue of $161.5 million. Lannett forecast fiscal 2017 revenue of $690 million to $700 million. Analysts had estimated $666 million.

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Shares of La-Z-Boy Inc. tanked late Tuesday after the furniture maker reported fiscal-quarter earnings and sales below Wall Street expectations. La-Z-Boy said it earned $13.8 million, or 28 cents a share, in the quarter, compared with $13.7 million, or 27 cents a share, in last year’s first quarter. Sales hit $340.8 million in the quarter, compared with $341.4 million a year ago. Analysts polled by FactSet had expected earnings of 29 cents a share on sales of $358 million. Same-store sales fell 1.9% in the quarter, La-Z-Boy said in a statement. The company’s flat sales were due to “weaker demand” on the wholesale side and “inconsistent” foot traffic at its stores, the company said. Shares of La-Z-Boy fell more than 13% in late trading after ending the regular session up 3.6%.

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Shares of Intuit Inc. fell in Tuesday’s extended session after the maker of TurboTax software posted a weak outlook for the current quarter. Intuit reported it swung to a loss of $40 million, or 16 cents a share, in the fourth quarter from a profit of $14 million, or 5 cents a share, a year earlier. Excluding items, the company would have earned 8 cents a share. Revenue rose to $754 million from $696 million. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had forecast a loss of 2 cents a share, on an adjusted basis, on revenue of $733 million. In the first quarter, Intuit projected adjusted earnings of 1 cent a share to 3 cents a share and revenue in a range of $740 million to $760 million. Wall Street is forecasting EPS of 13 cents and $773 million in revenue. Intuit fell 0.8% after hours.

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Nearly one-fifth of consumers, 19%, say they will no longer shop at retailers that have been the victim of a cyberattack, according to the 2016 KPMG Consumer Loss Barometer. In addition, one-third (33%) of the 448 consumers polled said that their fears about personal information becoming exposed would stop them from shopping at a retailer for at least three months. Consumers said a lack of a plan to prevent other attacks is a factor in their decision not to return. KPMG also surveyed 100 retail senior cybersecurity executives and 55% said they haven’t invested capital funds in cybersecurity over the past year, which “suggests that the issue is not as top of mind with retail executives as it should be,” KPMG wrote in a statement. The KPMG Barometer also found that 52% of consumers are uncomfortable with shopper personalization.

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WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) – Eight of the Federal Reserve’s 12 district banks wanted a quarter-point rise in the discount rate to 1.25%, up from six previously, according to minutes published Tuesday. The banks were in favor of lifting rates “in light of actual and expected strengthening in economic activity and their expectations for inflation to gradually move toward the 2% objective,” the Fed said. The discount rate is the central bank’s price for emergency loans for banks. It can sometimes be a signal for monetary policy in general. Four banks sought no change. The Fed’s five-member Board of Governors, which has the final say, kept the rate unchanged.

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The Securities and Exchange Commission said Tuesday it fined Apollo Global Management $52.7 million for allegedly breaching its fiduciary duties as an investment advisor by failing to disclose fees and conflicts of interest to investors. Apollo, as the general partner, failed to adequately disclose to its limited partners that it may accelerate future fees for monitoring portfolio companies when it ended those consulting and services agreements. The firm also allegedly failed to supervise a senior partner who charged personal expenses to the funds. Apollo neither admitted nor denied the findings but agreed to return the allegedly wrongful fees and interest to investors.

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